Young writers team up on 50,000-word novel
Local group meets twice a week for National Novel Writing Month
One word at a time. That's how an ambitious group of young writers in Regina are approaching a rather daunting challenge.
November is National Novel Writing Month across Canada. Writers who participate are tasked with producing a 50,000 word novel by the end of the month. That works out to 1667 words every day.
That much writing is something Michael Wapple finds intimidating at times.
"It is very daunting," Wapple explained. "You don't quite realize until you start writing how much 1600 words a day is."
To help writers deal with these challenges, a support group called NANOWRIMO has been created.
Darcy Summers runs the meetings. When she's not working on her fantasy novel, Darcy enjoys sharing ideas with other writers.
"It's so much fun to hang out with the people at these write-in sessions because it helps you get motivated and work together towards a single goal."
The group meets twice a week at the Saskatchewan Writers Guild and the central branch of the Regina Public Library.
Not only do these meetings offer a great writing environment, they give writers a chance to meet new people.
Andrew MacLeod recently moved to Regina from Saskatoon.
"I'm using NANOWRIMO as an excuse to meet new people in Regina while working on a story that I've been working on since high school," he said. "This is a great atmosphere because you meet people with the exact same thoughts and mindset into writing."